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We traveled all day, so just ran around the corner to a nice Indian place. All 3 of us shared mulligatawny, lamb tikka masala, peas & potatoes, rice, and some sort of homemade cheese & pistachio dessert. Kiddo (15 months) really loved the rice and fed herself quite well with a spoon! And she ate off of a plate, instead of just the bare table, which is a big step forward for us (we've always just put her food on the table, sure that she would throw the entire plate or bowl onto the floor). And she liked it enough to stay in her high chair through the entire meal instead of wanting to run around the restaurant saying hi to all the other diners (her usual MO).

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My almost three year old will sometimes eat everything in sight and then other times only wants cheddar bunnies. Whadya do?

Tonight we're having grilled salmon which Maeve will usually eat. She calls it orange chicken but whatever gets the job done, right? I'm making a mustard greens casserole to go along with the fish. I can't decide if I think she'll eat it or not. Basically, you blend eggs, ricotta, parm in a bowl, saute mushrooms and garlic in butter, then wilt the greens in the same pan, mix the egg stuff with the green stuff, dump it in a casserole, top it with crushed ritz and bake it for 50 minutes. I can't wait to eat it. I'll report back with how it goes over the babe and the hubs. Wish me luck!

Our two oldest (9 and 5) are picky eaters. I try to make meals with several dishes so they can pick and choose what they want. I was so dishearted after several nights consecutively of, "EEEWWWW, I don't like that!" which our 3 year old began to pick up as well. So we came up with a new system that works much better and helps them with their communication too. Rather than saying something rude when they don't like what we're having, they can say, "no thank you" and only take what they want. I love this because I'm not left with a bitter feeling that they're ungrateful little maggots and they're learning to be aware that what they say can hurt someone else's feelings.

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... because I'm not left with a bitter feeling that they're ungrateful little maggots and they're learning to be aware that what they say can hurt someone else's feelings.

Ouch!! It is frustrating when you work so hard to cook something and others don't want it. I find that I really take it personally--because I love to cook and really want to nourish my family. My husband is the picky one in my family.

I like that you've found a way to respect their food interests and also encourage gentle communication.

I've tried to do the same in my family. I try to offer things that I know people will like, and to stop taking it hard if they don't want to try it! I've recently learned some things that make me realize that being picky is not a behavioral problem -- people who are picky truly don't like or aren't interested in trying new things -- and that deserves to be respected (as hard as that can be for me, who grew up expected to try everything and clean my plate).

Last night, we had leftovers - everything in our house right now is nourishing, so no hard feelings on what people chose to eat!

DD had a piece of fine raw sheep's milk cheese from Spain and lots of fresh raw human milk to go with it.

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I like this thread! Too fun! Tonight we are having leftovers from what I made yesterday in the slow cooker while our son was napping only because I don't like to handle raw meat when he's around as he still toddles into things or tries to climb on something while I'm occupied with cooking. Our son won't be eating it with us though as my husband and I are very strict about what he eats and have been since he was started on solids at 6 months of age. His pediatrician told me that a pediatric allergist told her that it takes 7 days of eating something to fully develop an allergy to it (if one is going to develop), and I know from other things that I've read that it takes trying a new food 10-14 times to determine if you like it or not. So... our son has been getting a new food each Saturday since he was 6 months old (he is now 19 months old), and he doesn't seem to mind or know the difference. Of course now he eats most of what we eat as that is a bunch of weeks and new foods that we've given him. I have a BS in Food Science and Technology, and it just saddens me at the children these days that are overweight from improper nutrition. We opt for and budget ourselves for whole grains and organic when and where we can. Thankfully my mother-in-law has a garden going that she plans to do organic, so that will help. If anyone is interested in any more info about the scheduling of when it is age-appropriate to introduce foods in regards to digestion, etc. (some of the information I've collected has been from Dr. Sears The Baby Book and the book called Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron), please contact me. I'm not an expert, but I have done numerous research.

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Provided I have enough energy to make it, potato and bean soup is what's for dinner tonight. If I'm not, its frozen veggie pizza. I make a few different variations of potato soup. I always make it thick so it sticks easily to the spoon, makes it easier for the little ones to eat. Its filling too, and there's always leftovers.

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Provided I have enough energy to make it, potato and bean soup is what's for dinner tonight. If I'm not, its frozen veggie pizza. I make a few different variations of potato soup. I always make it thick so it sticks easily to the spoon, makes it easier for the little ones to eat. Its filling too, and there's always leftovers.

i'll marinate then grill the chix, slice into strips, then sautee red and green peppers and onions in olive oil. sprinkle w/cheese and fold up into torillas. ds2 LOVES chicken, so he'll get mostly that. and, of course, pancakes for ds1...

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Naked Baby (almost 13 months!) eats what we eat - maybe not everything (like if we go to Mexican, he's happy with as many black beans as we'll give him LOL), but always something we eat. Tonight I roasted a chicken with potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms, and he had some of everything. Tonight was great, though, because he was able to pick up food with his fork for the first time! The carrots and potatoes were the perfect consistency for him to stab and get to his mouth with the fork. He still mostly used his hands, but the fork thing was cool.